115 vaccines in the works for COVID-19

115 vaccines in the works for COVID-19

There are now 115 vaccines under development to prevent COVID-19, according to a wide-ranging worldwide review by the journal Nature.

Seventy eight of these vaccine candidates are the subject of active work, while there is no public information on whether work is ongoing on a further 37.

Five vaccines are currently being tested on humans and more are being tested on animals and vaccine development is proceeding at a pace never-before-seen in the history of medicine.

A vaccine made by Moderna was injected into healthy people last month to check it was safe to use and Inovio injected humans with its vaccine candidate this week.

Shenzhen Geno-Immune Medical Institute has begun human clinical trials on two vaccines and Cansino Biologicals has one vaccine in human trials.

The University of Queensland’s potential COVID-19 vaccine is entering an important new phase of testing. Picture: The University of Queensland

Inovio's vaccine is also being trialled on ferrets at the CSIRO along with a vaccine developed by scientists at Oxford University.

The University of Queensland announced this week its vaccine candidate was being sent to a secure lab in The Netherlands for testing on the live vaccine and human trials could begin after July.

And Australia's CSL is working on a blood plasma therapy for COVID-19 that would deliver antibodies from people who have recovered from the virus from people who are battling the virus.

Novavax said it will begin human trials of its vaccine in mid-May.

Stem-cell company Mesoblast has already given its experimental stem cell therapy to patients in the US with promising results and a clinical trial is about to commence.

Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer is testing several potential treatments for COVID-19.

Meanwhile, international researchers have tested 10,000 compounds looking for a COVID-19 treatment and identified six potential treatments.

University of Queensland researcher Professor Luke Guddat who took part in the study said the project targeted an enzyme on the virus that played a role in controlling its replication.

"We're particularly looking at several leads that have been subjected to clinical trials including for the prevention and treatment of various disorders such as cardiovascular disease, arthritis, stroke, atherosclerosis and cancer," he said.